Critics Blame Kremlin for Cautious Media

[Judi Lynn]

October 17, 2004


THE WORLD
Critics Blame Kremlin for Cautious Media
Recent attacks have hardened the invisible boundaries in Russian news coverage, many say. Ministry of Culture issued 18 reprimands.

By Kim Murphy, Times Staff Writer


MOSCOW — When a hostage-taking at a school in southern Russia erupted in explosions last month, viewers who rushed to turn on state-run Channel 1 were treated for the next hour to a film, "Lady With a Parrot." They wouldn't have fared much better on Channel 2, which stuck to a travelogue.

Instead, many Russians got their news of the events in Beslan, in which more than 330 hostages died, from Echo of Moscow radio, whose anchors were monitoring CNN and BBC television.

"It gave me the creeps to see how the two main television channels of Russia were ignoring the climax of the hostage tragedy in Beslan. We couldn't take an iota from them," said Sergei Buntman, the independent radio station's deputy editor.

However, Russian media apparently didn't toe the line as thoroughly as they could have.

The Culture and Press Ministry announced earlier this month that it had issued 18 reprimands for unspecified violations of the law on mass media, about a quarter of them connected with coverage of Beslan and other extremist acts. It said a second violation could result in the revocation of an organization's license.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-press17oct17,1,3978518.story?coll=la-headlines-world
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[BulletproofLandshark]

1. Hard to Blame Them

They're only following the example the American mainstream media has set, after all.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. Gee...sounds familiar.